As the transfer deadline approaches, is our squad really strong enough ? – written by kelsey

Written by kelsey

With the transfer deadline imminently approaching, I thought I would look at our squad and the players position as listed on the official site.

As a fan, my support should never be doubted, but I have concerns about our strengths and weaknesses.

I believe Almunia has played his last game for us. With the arrival of Schwarzer, who will be our back up keeper? My choice would be Mannone as the pressure on Fabianski may just be too much and perhaps he, rather than Szcezesny, should go out on loan.

In defence we have Clichy, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Sagna, Koscienly, Squillaci, Traore and Djourou. Clichy is not playing as well as two seasons ago and I would like to see Gibbs given more of a chance. Traore may be on his way, or at the least go out on loan.

Most players brought in from a different league need a bedding in period over about six months – although Sagna in his first season, and Vermaelen proved that this theory doesn’t apply to every player. Djourou is injury prone and IMO not good enough, and it has been asked so often why don’t we buy players from within the PL who can slot in straight away.

Astonishingly, we have ten players in midfield, but when you look closely there are injury concerns. The long term injury to Ramsey, short term loss of Nasri, which could amount to two months, and again the doubt over others remaining injury free, Rosicky being the prime example.

“The enigma” which is Diaby has his make or break season. The most frustrating player in the squad, yet I still maintain he could be a star player if he can get a good run of games. Arshavin is a different type of player,not seen in an Arsenal shirt before. Immensly skillful, a match winner on his day, but I think we would all generally agree that the little Russian needs to get more involved over the whole ninety minutes, or is there a stamina doubt ?

Finally the strikers which is my main concern. Only five listed, they being RVP,Walcott,Bedntner,Vela and Chamakh. It appears Bendtner has a long term injury, possibly ruling him out until next January, RVP manages only twenty games a season, Chamakh has been thrust into the deep end, Vela has only started very few games, and the hopes lay with the dramatic improvement in Walcott. On paper that is a major concern.

IMO we still need a striker to create a better balance and I also believe, injuries permitting, we will see more rotation than ever before. What do you think ?

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162 Responses to As the transfer deadline approaches, is our squad really strong enough ? – written by kelsey

Good post kelsey, I have to agree with you on whether we have enough strikers. We know we can get goals from all over the pitch but seeing Robin hobbling off on Saturday and knowing that there was only Chamakh that could come on is worrying. I’m not saying I don’t think Chamakh is good enough but without Nikki as back up we are a bit light there.

I’m not too worried about the strikers as I think we’ve got so many goalscorers in the midfield – Cesc, Theo, Nasri, AA, Rosicky, Diaby. Chamakh is very unselfish and will create as well as score. He was analysed brilliantly on another site, it showed his pass completion is way above any other top striker in the prem.

I agree that Schwarzer is coming, so if I could magic one more signing it would be a defence minded midfielder.

I’ll let kelsey answer the question about Bendtner, but as regards your 5 strikers, I’d suggest that very few (if any) are traditional No.9’s. They’re all No. 10’s. The last attempt we made to enlist a ‘fox in the box’ was Eduardo – and the rest is history.

I disagree re strikers – with only one place in the team, five is more than enough. With the swap of Chamakh for Eduardo, we now have three strikers who can play a more physical role. Behind them, we also have some great young strikers in Afobe and Sunu. With Bendy recovering and RvP twisting his ankle, it feels worse right now, but the unit of strikers looks pretty decent to me. I’m pleased that defensive signings have been made, but that is the area of the pitch where my concerns remain.

I also have a different take on GKs: assuming Schwarzer comes in (and that is a big assumption), and assuming we can’t convince Almunia to stay on as No 2, I would prefer to have Szczesny as the back-up. Mannone will probably get the nod though and he would be perfectly good, I would just like to see Szczesny brought on. I hope Wenger does what he said a little while ago, and send one of the keepers out on loan, and for the sake of building his confidence, I hope that is Fabianski.

Yes, but we need to keep in mind that getting a sixth striker in is probably impractical as no striker who is good enough for Arsenal would like to come in and fight for being the fifth choice striker after a few months. For that role we need a lower profile youngster and we have exactly the man in JET who impressed in his appearances so far.

The question regarding Bendtner is genuine. I have heard this at other places as weel, but I have not come across the source of taht information. Would be glad if you can provide one of the reports that you are referring to.

The danger of too many players is keeping them all happy. We are already very close to that point.

You cannot have 3 internationals for every position & we have a number of youngsters nearing their time.

With our luck it may be possible for RVP, Bentner & Chamack to go down at the same time but there is only so far you can look on the dark side. If that happened maybe Vela or JET will get the games to finally establish themselves.

If Schwarzer comes I would like to see it as Almunia, as the man in possession, fighting off the newcomer with Fabianski sent on loan to get some confidence. It would be a worry if Schwarzer continued with Australia for obvious reasons.

The whole point of this post was based on the listings on our official website,and it is just my opinion.

Walcott may turn out to be a striker,but I would bracket him and Vela as attackers not out and out strikers. RVP is not suited as a central striker, so IMO the only two strikers are Chamakh and Bedntner, the former being a good acquisition but will need time and the latter is injured indefinately.

Morning 26may – I think what we have – and have had for a while – is a great team on paper, but we know that we have been very unlucky with injuries in the past and we’re already starting the season light with an injury to Bendtner.

Chamakh is a great addition to the squad and hopefully he’s not injury-prone.

Robin is strong and determined but has often in the past rushed himself back too early.

Vela has had his time off for injuries and so has Theo.

I have always felt that Diaby should be given the chance up front if necessary but we’d need another defensive mid-fielder in the squad if that was the case.

Nice post kelsey, but I worry not about the squad, with the Bevvy of good under 21s we have who would see the odd appearance in the first team as a great incentive, AW has the perfect motivational set up.
The arrival of the big Aussie tomorrow will complete the jigsaw to perfection.

Gonna be a pot winning year,
Next question what kinda team will we put out against the spuds in the mickey mouse cup, being they will be desperate not just to beat us but to win the thing. Will it be the reserves, a mixture of squad and reserves or the half of the squad who don’t play regularly

as always you raise a good point and City are now the prime example.bellamy to cardiff ? Ireland not required? Wright Philips, Santa Cruz and Robino expensive bad buys.It’s all about getting the right balance and having a team as opposed to a bunch of over paid prima donnas.

If I was wenger I would give chance to emanuel Thomas I think he is great talent n he needs to get experiance by playing some of our home games and ofcurse the facup n carling cup matches, he is to good to be playing on the revarse team. If wenger don’t playing him in the first team it’s better to let him go out loan in one of the prim team

On a separate note – how crap are totnum fans? Booing their side off the pitch on saturday.

I had a momentary feeling of sympathy for ‘arry, but came to my senses very quickly. The spud fans I know are rubbing their hands together because they think they’re gonna beat us in the meaningless cup – they don’t even realise that ‘arry will also put out a reserve side.

arsene clearly agrees with your opinions that we have ample forward cover, it’s just that we have been disappointed so often with injuries in previous seasons.

the onlt cf’s we have are bendy and cham. the danish manager martin olsen said bendy had a season threatening injury. just his opinion as he is not a medical wallah. who can tell with injuries. look at tomas rosicky, no one knew what his problem was.

Very good post. I have the same concern. But again I hope we will have the luck this season with injuries. With nasri and RVP already injured,… .

The main concern is that we all know that players like Wallcott, Diaby, RVP and Ros. are are never injury free.

A lot of people think that chelsea and Man united are bigger than us. The only difference between us and these clubs in last season, is the injury crises, and that was the only reason we lost the race last season.

You can’t have too many top class strikers; well, actually you can, as Flint points out, the problem with too many is that you risk disharmony.

Good post Kelsey, I felt that same as you when I saw RVP go down on Saturday but as many people above have said we should have enough cover up front for all eventualities bar a disaster and even if that happens we still have Arshavin who can play up front.

Welcome Ibrahim – I think Theo looks much stronger this season, he’s really bulked up and is brimming with confidence – his movement off the ball is much better so as long as no-one tries to break his leg there’s hope.

It seems to be Arsene’s way to build a team of fabulously talented – apart from a couple – delicate – apart from the centre-backs – footballers and we just have to love the best bits and worry about the bad bits ;)

Don’t let me divert you from footie chat, but since I know you’re a fan, I just had to tell you that I watched the MJ film last night of his rehearsals for the ill-fated tour. He was outstanding, I had no idea he was that talented and hands-on.

Wasn’t it just fantastic? Such a talented guy. I love the part where he was telling the sound guy he had it all wrong but was apologizing and telling him he loved him just so he wouldn’t feel bad.

The personal stuff is a bit messy and lets not get into it, but as a sheer talented musician the world lost a great one in MJ.

When you see all the crap like Ke$ha and bloody Katy Perry that gets into the charts these days you realise what we’ve lost. They can’t even sing. That’s why I love Lady Gaga so much, her music might not be everyone’s cup of tea but she writes her own lyrics, her own music, is a kick-ass piano player and can *wait for it* actually sing live….

It seems that Traore will be leaving on loan before the close – he must be flattered by the clubs that are showing an interest. It wouldn’t surprise me to see his loan spell turn into a permanent move.

Agree with you there Rasp – the LB slot is between Gibbs and Clichy and its hard for Traore to get a look in.

Just on the strikers, maybe Wenger will promote Wellington Silva to the starting line-up pretty quickly. He can start playing in January isn’t it? Wasn’t he already playing first team football in Brazil?

Hi irish – see you and rasp having an MJ love-in, I watched it last night aswell, although his voice started off a bit dodgy he was singing really well later but his dancing was still amazing. He was a genius.

We have too many creative players for midfield. Yes the gunners can create abundance of chances but they need a mid field destroyer someone like Flamina and for older folks a modern version of Peter Storey.
Btw it’s no use creating a 1001 chances if the gunners aint clinical .I rather the gunners have three chances less than the opposition and score goals from all three.I note of late there is less passing and more shooting. Perhaps from the ricochet of shots will goals flow like Ashvin’s.
I am feeling confident but will hold my breath till the have tangled with MU/Chelsea/Spurs/AV.

At the moment, Theo appears to be our most clinical finisher. Chamakh wasn’t noted for his high goals to attempts ratio, but who knows what Arsène can mould him into. It is iimportant to create chances, we’ve failed to open up resolute defences in the past so I’m hoping we will have more of a cutting edge this season.

gunnerwong, I see jack as our Peter Stoey, but not for a few years yet.

Obviously the acid test is against the so called top 6.What I liked particularly on Saturday was the confidence of Theo for leting fly from just outside the box and it only went a few inches over. He was also in a central position when Sagna’s cross came over and eventually led to Arshavin scoring.

Diaby is the most guilty.Just when he gets into a great shooting position and one yells SHOOT he passes the ball to another player,usually only 2 or 3 yards from him.We know he can do it, even last week his goal was arguably the best of the 6 scored.

I’m not sure how tongue-in-cheek your comment is, but I do wonder how many first team starts Bendtner will get when he’s fit. He’s very ambitious and would start for many premiership sides so he may seek a move away in the future.

Wellington has been over traing with us and played at least two pre-season friendlies for the reserves at Barnet. I saw him and the Japanese youngster Miyaki (?) and they both looked good. (Arsene did not proceed with the Japanese guy. Pity).

Wellington has returned to Brazil for now. He only played peripherally for their 1st team, mainly as an attacking midfielder. He is quite small.

Hi Peaches. RB cover has to be Eboue and Nortdveit (plus Eastmond perhaps). Got to disagree re Diaby as a striker, I really don’t think he would cope well with the pressure of two CBs being on his back all the time.

And T_Arsenal, I love Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, he will be a footballing god in the next few years, and I hope he gets a real look in this season, but not as a striker. He’s flexible but he looks like a midfielder more than anything.

I don’t think I’m quite up there with Rasp’s levels of optimism but if/when we get a GK, I’d be reasonably happy with the squad. Unless RA is right and he lose Bendy for the season….

Music first, Ahem. (whispers quietly) MJ was a freak. Robbie is a druggie , Lady G is not of this world. Lilly Alan and Amy Winehouse Are ?. none of em are of this world.

Prom on Saturday night was fantastic:-) :-)

OK Irish, I know,I know, you don’t love me no more, oh well, better go and make the wife a cup of tea. Bang goes me fishing hols in Ireland.

MJ fantastic? Fantastic they say !!!! whats the bloody world coming to… I thought he was an Alan Ball Impressionist…… Rasp its all these players we are buying its the excitement affecting you, have a lay down in a dark room it will be ok.

I never said Lady Gaga was “out of this world.” Of course its up to you whether you like her or not but I find it hilarious that people find her “weird” because she wears designer clothes, or a “whore” because she sings in her underwear a lot (yet bikini models are “hot”) – the girl is a talented musician and I like her, love her in fact.

Fuck there is enough boring in the world, bless her for doing what she wants to. I’m fucking sick of boring, I’m fucking sick of people saying whats conventional. She brightens up my day a tad when she wears a fucking table on her head and I honestly couldn’t give a flying fuck what others think.

there is no doubt that u are right, i think schwarzer will sign probably tomorrow, but i dont think this is a step forward, he’s way past his best and he’s too slow, i woulda gone for stekelenberg any day. we really needed 1 more defender in my opinion as well, mertesacker, michael ciani or juan would’ve been great signings, as for midfielders i woulda got another defensive midfielder for those tricky away fixtures at city, chelsea and even utd, senna would’ve been perfect as a short term solution and felipe melo would be more appreciated at the emirates than in italy. as for strikers, another 1 would’ve been nice bcuz of van persie’s constant injury problems and the fact that we sold eduardo to our champions league opponents shakhtar donesck. if ( by some miracle ) we go through the season injury free, then we could a good season. my prediction is 3rd in the league, semi finals champions league and winning the fa cup.

I understand your wishlist, but I’m sure you know its not going to happen with only a day left of the transfer window.

I think the chavs are going to win the prem comfortably, but I reckon we have a good chance of second. The CL could be won by any of 6 clubs of which we are one. I’d be delighted if won the FA cup but I expect AW to give it low priority.

As we’re talking about squad depth – do you remember earlier in the year how you felt when you knew Essien was out for the rest of the season – yep a wry smile and the thought that the chavs would be weaker without him and they went on to win the double :(

If we were struggling to comply with the 25 man rule, we’d probably have to leave Bendtner and Ramsey out (I think someone mentioned this earlier). It is only binding until Xmas and then we submit a new list for the 2nd half of the season. As it is, we should probably omit Bendtner, up to the New Year.

John “Stumpy” Pepys (1964-1967) Died in a bizarre, unexplained gardening accident.
Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs (1967-1974) Choked on vomit of unknown origin.
Peter “James” Bond (1974-1977) Spontaneously combusted onstage.
Mick Shrimpton (1977-1982) Onstage explosion
Joe “Mama” Besser (1982) Quit the band, claiming he “couldn’t take this 4/4 shit”; according to an MTV interview with Spinal Tap in November 1991, he disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Gary Wallis (Amnesty International performance in 1991)
Richard “Ric” Shrimpton (1982-1999) Allegedly sold his dialysis machine for drugs, presumed dead
Sammy “Stumpy” Bateman (2000) Died in a freak tricycle accident jumping over a pool of sharks.
Mick Fleetwood (2000) The only one to survive unscathed.
Plus 14 other drummers at various times all of whom are dead.

I don’t know where you get the idea from that I have a negative outlook – it is you who perceives my view as negative, not me. In my mind, I’m being realstic. I haven’t wavered from my standpoint throughout the summer and if we sign Schwarzer tomorrow (which I fully expect) I will have as much right as you to put a note up in the ITYS tab.

LOL Red Arse I do like some of the King’s music. I like everything from Andrea Bocelli to Rammstein, from Garth Brooks to Lady Gaga.

I’ve nothing against particular genres but don’t like some artists. Ke$ha is a bit of an idiot but she “wakes up in the morning feelin’ like P.Diddy” and that amuses me so she escapes harsh criticism from me :)

RvP’s frame is too slight for the demands he puts on it. When he turns at pace, the point loading on his joints is immense. The same was true of Johnny Wilkinson. RvP will also suffer more from knocks because his joints/tendons etc are not resilient enough.

As much as I love van Persie, I think Arsene has to see finally that we cannot count on him as our #1 striker. I thought last year should’ve provided more than enough evidence, but Arsene must’ve felt otherwise. Granted, it seems we’re playing a 4231 at the moment, but if Chamakh gets hurt, we are in big trouble. What do we do, everyone?

That was the gist of what I wrote earlier.We have always known that we would only get a certain amount of games from RVP, but the bedntner long term injury was unexpected, so Theo has to start playing in his more favoured position which is central as opposed to the wing.
I can’t see us buying a striker in the next 24 hours.

He gave Eduardo every chance and IMO bought Chamakh as his replacement but also to utilise his height.

Since I wrote this piece this morning two things have happened.The severity of the injuries to RVP and Bedntner so perhaps Vela will be given his chance more often . He needs games as his PL starts, one can count on one hand.

I love the little sub plot between Rasp and Dandan, it is like a secret blog all of its own.

I always chuckle when Dandan can’t resist the bait, I know exactly where he is coming from, I used to take the bait myself but you are far more polite than me. It took me ages to realise that Rasp isn’t doing it on purpose, in fact, I don’t even think he knows he is doing it at all.

London there is no bait my friend, Rasp said he would write a positive post if AW got a GK and centre back because he didn’t believe AW he bet me his house he wouldn’t get two CB we just await tomorrows arrival and I will have a full set :-)

“The requirements are few, as we want our content and style to be as varied as possible.

So…

– If you’ve ever gotten better than a ‘See Me.’ on a school essay
– If you’ve ever been praised for your intelligent insight on football
– If you’ve ever started a pub fight for your opinionated, blinkered opinions on football
– If you’ve ever wanted the opportunity to anger thousands of people at once
– If you don’t mind people disagreeing with you

Then you might be ready to write for C***** ******* ”
—————————————————

So this is from a blog that makes up stories and I won’t name them but I would rather we had a lot fewer hits and had civilised debate.

I think you are off your rocker if you believe we will sign another CB tomorrow (in the most polite way of course).

We will sign Schwarzer and that completes my prediction as in ‘Summer Signings – Expect to be Slightly Disappointed’. Squillaci was the ‘player X’ who wasn’t on anyone’s radar and he cost less than £15m. So all in all that is a full house of predictions courtesy of yours truly.

I don’t see how anyone can see a negative aspect to my prediction of us coming second in the Premiership – that would be a major achievement as we are still on a shoestring budget, although of course I’d be delirious if we won it! We could surprise everyone and win the CL. We won’t win the FA cup as AW doesn’t want to risk players when the other two trophies are so much more important to him and to the club financially.

Don’t let the signings fool you – we have reduced the wage bill this summer and spent around £5m net, which is about in line with the last 4 years. I think Arsène is building towards another all-conquering team but it will not emerge fully this season.

No London you miss the point, my argument has always been finishing in the top four on so limited a budget is the measure of the man and a raging success. The we have won nothing for five years and wont this year either is the negative statement I object to. Plus the Wenger cant be trusted brigade are misguided to say the least.

Totally incorrect! ….. I said telling lies is part of a manager’s function these days and in that, AW is no different to any other manager. I equated it to a professional foul in as much as it is obviously wrong, but done for the greater good. I totally support AW and have written many articles saying that his way is the best way. I do not however, believe he is superhuman, and free from flaws.

For the years between 2004 and now, I agree with you 100% Dandan, Wenger has done a magnificent job and the right measure of success is not in the pots won (especially with Chelsea buying a number of them along the way), but keeping us at the level we’ve been at without cash.

But the position is shifting. Our debt on the stadium is now falling and exposure on Highbury and Queensland sorted. Of course the club should keep a careful eye on finances and should not over-spend the money we generate for the coub one way or another, but it’s difficult to believe there isn’t more available than the £11m or so net that Schwarzer would take us to.

If Koscielny, Squillaci and (crossed fingers) Schwarzer turn out to be enough to put us in the mix for the title until the end of the season, all well and good, there’s no need to spend money for the sake of it. But Arsene is more open to suggestions of a lack of ambition than ever, and I do worry about that. We should now be aiming for top spot, nothing less, and if there are any question marks at the end of the season over our defensive play this year, buying cheap this summer is going to prompt plenty of criticism.

We know each other too well to take offence, but I am disappointed by the inference that I am a wind-up merchant. I really do believe what I say, there is no agenda.

I have written posts attacking those who would deny ‘freedom of opinion’ simply because it may differ from their own. I have defended bloggers with whom I disagree simply because I sense they are genuine and have a right to express their view. My Arsenal DNA is obviously different to others but my conviction is genuine.

Having read back again, I don’t believe London was saying I am a wind-up merchant, he just suggested that I was baiting dandan which isn’t true.

I have pointed out to dandan before that we appear to disagree when we both reach the same conclusion but via different thought processes. He thinks my slant is negative and his is ‘honestly pro Arsenal’ and I think my slant is realistic and not ‘anti-Arsenal’.

This is getting very convoluted and as my maths teacher used to say ….. “equates to four fifths of three eighths of fuckall!” :lol:

It’s all getting a little sensitive on here, most probably due to several reasons.
Anticipation of who may still come in,a general nervousness felt by some, a positive thought process by others but overall we all support the club first and foremost.

London is sitting back,smiling to himself.Rasp is full of angst :) and dandan is forever positive always having a favorable slant regardless of mishaps and takes the long term view of exciting times ahead .

Rasp I have never by thought or deed suggested that you were anti Arsenal.Indeed I believe you are driven by concern for the club you obviously love.
The difference between us is perhaps you close your eyes when corners come over fearing the worse, Whilst I expect some one in a red and white shirt to get something on it.
We have come through the bad years and never been less than fourth (IE we have always got something on it.) Now I believe just like you do Rasp that Wengers
magic will outweigh the supposed advantages of lesser managers money.

As for London he is enjoying his glass of wine and ringside seat whilst pulling the odd string and good luck to him.

Kelsey with his generous spirit worries about us all falling out.
From a personal point of view I have great fun on here meet interesting people and will miss it from next week AS I go on off on holiday for 6 weeks.

That doesn’t stop me looking forward to Rasps house keys arriving in the post :-)

You are probably right about me missing the point. I will be more cautious before sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong in future.

Rasp

As you rightly say, I don’t think you are a wind up merchant and I certainly don’t think you are purposely baiting Dandan. I probably didn’t explain myself properly. I did say that Dandan was taking the bait but I should have made clear that I do not think that you were setting it on purpose. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that you aren’t doing any of this on purpose at all. You simply have a different view, a view I have come to respect even if I do not always agree with it.

Scwarzer in ONLY if Given goes to Fulham, but on the other hand it would be nice if they kept with Smalling, who is English and that stifles yet another English lad getting a breakthrough, even if that scuppers our deal.

Do you think there is any way we could have got Given? If Ade goes to totnum, that disproves the theory that citeh won’t sell/loan good players to any of their rivals – therefore, why aren’t we trying to sign Given?

I cannot recall ever seeing Schwarzer and thinking “By gum, I wish we could sign this chap”. We are excited purely because of AW’s intransigence about the abilities of Almunia & Fabianski.

It is a sorry state of affairs and reflects poorly upon the esteemed Mr. Wenger. I can understand that signing a 37 y.o. is sensible with Scezney (?) coming through. But Coco was not good enough 3 seasons ago, nothing changed and it would appear as if AW is pandering to the wishes of the fans. Our GK has not got worse over his reign between the sticks, he remains an adequate player.